Whether contending with a deceitful daughter-in-law, forecasting
financial prospects for a tea shop, or freeing a husband from
government detainment, Friends in High Places reveals the central
role of nats and spirit mediums in alleviating the day to day
burdens of modern Burmese life.

Leprosy isnt as contagious as peoples problems,
notes one medium, my clients bring their worries into my
home. I dont need to go out on the street to learn how
cruel life can be. Yet despite their skills in channeling
good luck for others, the life stories of the mediums prove to
be as poignant as the stories of those who seek their assistance.

Just as nats lie somewhere on the spectrum between mortals
and the divine, the gay men who serve as primary conduits for
the nat spirits are considered to be neither male nor female.
Regarded by society with a curious mix of disdain and reverence,
the male mediums profiled in this film  ranging from the
gentle, melancholy Lady Silver Wings to the hard
drinking, ego-driven Mr. Famous  illustrate
the special niche granted to gay men in Burmese society.

Exquisite footage accentuates Lindsey Merrisons keen
eye for nuance as she takes the viewer on a journey examining
the extremes that define Burmese spirit mediums and their way
of life. Deceit and artistry, tragedy and comedy, faith and cynicism
 in a country known both as a 2,500 year bastion of Buddhism
and more recently for its legacy of political corruption and
instability, the world of the nat becomes an analogy for the
many unusual juxtapositions within Burma itself.

“Having examined the strong Anglo-Burmese heritage suppressed
by her mother in 1996 debut Our Burmese Days, helmer Lindsey Merrison journeys deeper into the contempo society of Myanmar (as country's been known for past dozen years) in lively, colorful docu Friends in High Places. Story of flamboyant mediums and the cult that's sprung up around them has already nabbed one ethnographic fest prize and will garner more praise
on the circuit before vigorous tube and ancillary life.” — Eddie Cockrell, Variety